REUTERS/Chris Wattie
The Conservative stratagem cannot be said to have followed what adviser Tom Flanagan calls “incrementalism”, a theory in which the movement makes subtle but sure gains toward increasing control of the conservative message in this country. But they certainly have learned how to incrementally move left of their position, from the right of the spectrum where they originally started, all the way to the centre, and are now battling to the left. As they go, they push the Liberal Party deeper into NDP territory, just in order to maintain an image and a message that is different from the Conservative Party.
And that’s the real issue with this incrementalist approach, isn’t it? By pushing for the centre, it leaves the Liberals with nowhere to go. Want to increase the child tax credit? Sorry, the rightwing party has already done it. Increase immigration levels? Been there, done that. Apologies to the natives, the Chinese, the Komagata Maru boat people? Done it, done it, done it. I mean, they’ve even created regional economic development agencies just like the Liberals. Throw in their unrestrained spending and furious promises totalling $10 billion since June 22 alone, and we’ve got ourselves a “natural governing party” right here.
So the strategy to take away the sting from the Liberals has been very clear: to orchestrate enough Liberal-style policies to woo the centre and centre-left. That appears to be the case again, with the announcement by the Conservatives of a large unemployment insurance reform package coming up when Parliament reconvenes, thus taking away one of the major reasons for the Liberals to overthrow the government.
Because the “bipartisan” summer panel on EI failed to agree on changes to the program, the Conservatives have decided to go it alone and creating more help for long-tenured workers who have lost their jobs during the recession. There would be more training, possibly extended benefits, and even expansion of the reduced work week and work sharing programs. Wooing the family vote, the Conservatives would also look at generous maternity and parental benefits leave especially for the unemployed.
Because the election hasn’t been called, the Conservatives are being as vague about the cost as Michael Ignatieff when asked to tell people what his party is all about. As Dan Leger wrote in the Chronicle Herald, despite signs that there is strong opposition to the Harper government, voters still seem reluctant to switch governors. Why?
Michael Ignatieff still hasn’t created a plausible rationale to defeat the Tories. And one of the main reasons for that is because the Conservatives won’t give him one. This latest employment insurance program expansion is the best indication of that. Other than their new slogan, “We can do better”, there’s not much meat around these potatoes.
Even the Toronto Star, fully expected to endorse the Liberals, is running op-eds about the Liberals who despite not being leaderless anymore, are certainly still lacking a coherent message. As David Crane observes, while the Liberals are consistently good at criticizing Harper on a number of policies, they never seem to have a policy of their own at the ready. I mean, even Stephane Dion offered up his vision of the “Green Shift”, disastrous though it may have been. What is Michael Ignatieff’s vision? Mr.Crane concludes what even readers of the Toronto Star have to come to terms with:
Unless Liberals can come up with compelling and credible policies, there is no reason to have an election this year. So far, they have failed to provide them.
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